Rittenberg Top 25 Players Speculation
As most of you have probably followed, Adam Rittenberg has been counting down the top 25 players in the Big Ten this fall, judging both on past performance and future potential. Now at no. 12 (OSU LB Ross Homan), we have yet to see a Wolverine on the list. I might have some quibbles about a few of Michigan's guys deserving to be on the list already (Roundtree or Tay Odoms immediately come to mind), but I'm wondering who you guys think could show up in his top 11.
If anyone were to do it, Adam would be the one to have the balls to not stick a U-M player in there just because he needs a Michigan player if he didn't think there is a deserving Wolverine. However, I wouldn't be surprised to see a two-headed Tate/Denard slot, and I think even just Tate would be fair for the top 11. Homerism and boundless optimism aside, the only other guy I can see fitting into his list would be Roh, who fits neatly into the past performance/future potential metric.
What do you think?
Edit: By request, the list can be found here. (Didn't want to steal his page views.)
We have to judge Adam fairly because he did have the common sense to rank BG #1 in his top 25 after the season. However, Molk should be on this list, maybe Schilling, but probably not this high.
I disagree on Molk. And so does EA Sports (rating of 96 overall - good enough for best in the conference I believe).
I mean... look at our record with and without Molk. Obviously other factors at play - but he is a HUGE piece to our potential success this year.
that comment.
Good lord my brain is not working this morning. Oh well, I like Molk.
or least cut and paste the list from 13 to 25 so we can have a reference point of comparable players
I really dont think at this point we're going to see any. I highly doubt he's going to rank Tate, a guy who very possibly might be a backup, in the top-11 of the entire big 10. I know he was hurt last year, but his statistics are not even close to a top-11 player.
If we were going to see anybody it would have to be Molk at this point (if he doesnt show up in the top-11 then he was definitely passed up earlier in the top-25). Nobody else is really deserving of a top-11 player spot.
FWIW Molk and Roh would've both been in my top-25 with the possibility of Denard (if you REALLY want to consider upside potential) and at the fringe Mike Martin. Nobody else really deserves top-25 im sorry to say.
Just saw that the #11 player was selected. Only 10 spots left.
I agree with the general sentiment - if we have not seen a Wolverine yet, I doubt any will creep into the top-11 unless the Tate/Denard combo is treated as "UM QB". I'm a bit surprised that Molk was not included because the team clearly started to scuttle when he was injured, but this is definitely one of the least accomplished teams UM has fielded in my memory. That might change this year, but by preseason standards I'm not surprised to see a paucity of Wolverines.
It will make RR and UM look all the more impressive when they start winning again this year. I know that, theoretically, nobody should need any extra motivation at an elite level, but from what I have read and heard, coaches use every shred of material they can to motivate players. If nobody is in the projected top 25, it can just be another in the pile of motivational material that RR has probably collected this offseason.
I think anything that can help infuse the team with an "us against the world," bunker mentality will only help Michigan this year. I want to see the maize and blue take the field with a severe collective chip on their shoulders this season.
and the closer he gets to top 10, the less likely there will be a wolverine on the list. not sure how many years he's been doing this...but safe bet that there hasn't been top 25 list without a wolverine on it. i hope it gives incentive to the uofm players to bust out individually and as a team...can you imagine not having a player on the list and then finishing top 3 in big ten...would be credit to coaching staff for sure.
As a follow-up to that list, looks pretty legitimate. I'm not as high on Cousins as Rittenberg (Blair White was a beat last year, and I'm not sure if Dell and Cunningham are going to be able to step right in and provide the type of safety blanket White did) or Klug (Clayborn is so dominant that he clearly benefits from single blocking), but overall it looks better than some of those preseason rankings that are pure name-value.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Molk or MM in there.
Donovan Warren, Stevie Brown and Brandon Graham should all definitely be on that list.
Oh balls...
I think one or two of the group of Molk, Schilling, Martin and Woolfolk will make the top 11.
You've got to remember that Michigan is the reigning last place team in the Big Ten. The two best defensive players from 2009 have moved on to the NFL and quite possibly the best offensive player is recovering from major surgery.
There's not a lot to brag about from an individual player standpoint right now, especially when you're only looking at 25 players in an 11 team league. I wouldn't be surprised if the Buckeyes have 4-5 players all by themselves.
On the bright side, Michigan is mostly made up of younger players at this point. You'd expect the best players in the league to be juniors and seniors. Michigan has a chance to put several people on the list next year (Molk, Roh, Martin, Campbell, Robinson /Forcier....).
Take the list for what it is right now. The Top 25 at the end of the season may look different.
ow, scalding me! like a vampire looking in a mirror.
Personally I'd rather not see one of our guys from here on out. Hopefully the team can use the snub as more motivation going into the year.
It'll make it that much sweeter when we start the Revenge Tour this year.
Everyone will be back on our nuts once we start winning this fall. Im glad we are being underestimated. Go Blue!!!
Putting the two-headed UM QB on that list makes no sense and completely defeats the exercise. Tate and Denard should be no where near that list. Neither should any of the skill position players on the offense for that matter, save maybe Odoms, but even he's a stretch.
Molk will probably show up on there and I wouldn't be surprised to see him in the 4-6 range given the obvious impact he has on Michigan offense.
I think Roh is probably too young and unproven to get on the list at this point, especially with his move to linebacker. But we also might see Woolfolk pop up in the top 10.
maybe roundtree but he basically had 4 games
Rittenberg has stated a couple of times in the past that he thinks Troy Woolfolk should be 1st or 2nd team All-Big Ten this season. I expected him to be on the list, but in the 20-25 range. I guess he doesn't think THAT highly of him. (Or maybe he is really high on him and he shows up in the top 10...)
didnt I read here that the new College Football video game has Molk as our highest rated player?
Psychologically, this team (and coaching staff) needs to approach every game with a massive chip on its shoulder. As Ufer used to state frequently, football is a game of emotion. I've always thought LC was a damn good coach and didn't deserve the vast majority of the criticism he received, but one critique that I think was accurate is that there were too many games in which Michigan seemed to be flat and going through the motions, and that caught up with us more than a few times during his tenure. This team is too young and too green to play with anything other than an intense desire to play with seriously bad intentions. I hope RR knows how to build and harness that frame of mind.
I would be more scared of this guy!
on the list. After the season, however, Adam will be singing a different tune about our guys! On offense, I could see whover starts at QB, Roundtree, Molk, and Schilling as possibilities to have a great year. On defense, Roh and Woolfolk are the obvious choices, but Mike Martin, RVB, and Cam Gordon could also have great seasons.
All Adam has to do is point out that last year Michigan was 3-0 with Molk and, well, you know the rest.
Rittenberg picked Woolfolk as the player with the most potential impact on the season, but Molk is the best center in the Big Ten. So in a best players list, he deserves serious consideration. He may be too small for today's NFL (we'll see -- I like the Jim Otto comparison), but as a college player, he's for real.
But I agree with many of the comments - the post-season Big Ten first and second teams are what we want, and I think will surprise to the good. Homerism and don't-want-to-jinx-them... er...ism precludes me from speculating on those lists. But we have candidates
Pryor, Heyward, BA Boren, Greg Jones, Penn State Wisniewski and Royster, Wisconsin John Clay, Iowa Adrian Clayborn and Tyler Sash, Purdue Ryan Kerrigan
Pryor, Heyward, Jones, Wisneiwski, Royster, Clay, Clayborn and Kerrigan are locks, IMO. Boren and Sash could certainly be on there and I wouldn't have an issue.
Keyshawn Martin could sneak in there. So could Chekwa (though it's kind of a down year for CBs in the B10).
Michigan will have a couple of guys next year.
In another Rittenburg post, he responds to an MSU question by saying Martin is out of the Top 25; says he's behind Nick Toon (who I'd have in) among others.
Wiscy will be a beast, OSU as good as advertised. We'll need real improvement for these back-to-back games - but we'll know by then what we have in this team. Agreeing with other posts, they must be a brutal, coming-after-you-every-down type of defense (at least in the front 7). An angry and relentless defense. Barwis has prepared them, Robinson has coached them (please, let GR have coached them), RichRod and their team needs them. Now play vicious and punish. Do that now. Don't wait until next year guys.
Martin as a darkhorse, but that doesn't surprise me that he's not in Rittenberg's Top 25. I like him as a receiver, but he proobably won't put up the numbers like guys like Smith, Doss, Belcher, Toon, Posey, McNutt, DJK, etc.
However I think he adds a ton as a kick and punt returner. Multi-deminsional guy who can go the distance any time he's got his hands on the ball. Beyond Pryor, he and Denard may be the other top big play guys in the league.
10. Sash, 9. Clayborn, 8. Wisniewski, 7. Boren, 6. Kerrigan, 5. Royster, 4. Jones (overrated), 3. Pryor, 2. Clay, 1. Heyward
10. Sash
9. Boren
8. Wisniewski
7. Kerrigan
6. Clayborn
5. Royster
4. Clay
3. Jones
2. Heyward
1. Pryor.
GOD i hope he is fully recovered by this fall
UM is getting the snub, and is the only team other than Minnesota that didn't get a player in his rankings. He just released his #2 on his list, so unless we can pull off the top spot we won't have a representative. Since future potential is weighed in with past performance, I would have definitely thought Molk or Tate/Denard would have at least appeared on this list...and of course Rittenberg is on vacation so he won't get to hear the complaints